Macomb (City in Illinois) – Hundreds of people gathered in Macomb on Saturday to join the nationwide No Kings rally.
Noel Bishop drove nearly an hour from Nauvoo, where no rally had been planned. Frustrated by the Trump administration’s immigration policy, she expressed her anger openly.
“On their own they suspended habeas corpus. They’ve decided that we’re just going to do whatever we want no matter what. We’re going to go ahead and disobey every single federal judge out there,” she said.
Bishop accused the Trump administration of treating immigrants inhumanely and spreading fear among communities.
“This has gone too damn far. There needs to be more people upset about this. There needs to be more people raising Cain over this crap. This isn’t fair,” she said.
Demonstrators filled both sides of the highway between Lafayette and Randolph streets in downtown Macomb, while many passing drivers honked to show their support.
Jenifer Bower attended the protest dressed in an inflatable sloth costume.
“I think that it gives you greater visibility during the protest, and it shows the absurdity of today’s administration,” Bower said.
Bower said she joined the protest because speaking out against things you disagree with matters—and she opposes nearly everything the Trump administration stands for, especially its immigration policy.
“It just seems like white supremacy has come to the surface a lot in this administration. I don’t care for it,” Bower said.
She mentioned attending several other protests in Macomb, some with strong participation, but noted that this was the largest turnout she had seen in the community.
Across the tri-states region, similar No Kings protests took place in Burlington, Fort Madison, Keokuk, and Galesburg.
Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Illinois, joined the protest in Galesburg’s public square, where he estimated about 1,000 people participated.
According to NPR, the nationwide demonstrations were organized by No Kings, a network of progressive groups opposing the Trump administration’s agenda.
Organizers reported that nearly 2,600 No Kings events were scheduled to take place across almost every state.
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